Laughing Dog Arts

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Showers and Flowers

Recently a fellow blogger noticed the picture on my side bar of my Laughing Dog Sierra.  She asked if I would allow her to paint his portrait and of course I said yes if she would promise to send me a jpeg of the finished painting.  Well, not only did she send me a jpeg but she sent me the actual painting!!  Isn't it wonderful?  She captured that loving look in his eyes perfectly.  She is Patty of Listen to the Road blog.  Click on the link to go visit her.  She has been painting these portraits of dogs in shelters and then sells the paintings, contributing all the profit back to the shelter.  Some people are so amazing and kind and generous and Patty is one, to say nothing of talented!  I adore my painting.  Thank you so very much, Patty.  I love my painting!!!
Here are a few photos of the wild flowers sprouting up around here.  Above are the Fairy Bells.  So sweet and all over the place.
Big Leaf Maple is blossoming like crazy, waking up everyone's allergies and spewing out pollen. Lucky for me I don't suffer from allergies.  The yellow dust of it is covering cars and everything. 
Better click on this one to see the lovely profusion of wild bleeding hearts.
This is a blue bell, not wild but has gone feral, along with some cranesbill that is taking over after I brought a tiny plant in a few years back.
Can't end without showing our Oregon State flower, Oregon Grape.  The stiff glossy spiny leaves protect the short lived flowers.  Eventually there will be a cluster of blueberry looking grapes.  Yes, they are edible but as my friend says, not incredible.

I'm sitting out on my deck writing this post and it is the warmest day of the year so far.  Got up to 73 and tomorrow they predict 81.  I can smell my lilacs, they began opening in the warmth today.  The Goldfinches have arrived and are flocking to my sunflower feeders, soon the Black headed Grosbeaks will show up.  We already have the Evening Grosbeaks.

A funny thing I noticed when looking at the stats of my blog.  I've had the most hits on my long ago post that I titled Beading Larson.  That was nearly 4 years ago.  It has received 780 visits.  My post on the passing of Anne Lockard (Miss you Anne!!) received a lot but that was only 487.  I don't know why Beading Larson receives so many hits.  Funny.


I will leave you with this photo of me and my kitty Charlie.  He is a big love bug!But he is very shy and most people who come here don't even realize I have a cat.  He was feral, but I managed to tame him down and now he sleeps with me.

Don't forget to check out Patty's blog!  Until next time, 
Be well.

14 comments:

OmaLindasOldeBaggsandStuftShirts said...

Hmmmmm.....seems to me that good things come to those that do good things. Yes? What a lovely Karmic happening for you. xoxo Linda

Tanya said...

Lovely painting of Sierra!

And nice to meet you Charlie!

Patty said...

Looking closely at Sierra while painting was its own reward. What
a special, happy dog. Love that tux
kitty!

Janet Ghio said...

That is just the BEST painting! i just love it. and all the photos of your wildflowers-wonderful. I love bleeding hearts-so pretty. Where in Oregon do you live? My son lives between Albany and Corvalis.

Janet Ghio said...

That is just the BEST painting! i just love it. and all the photos of your wildflowers-wonderful. I love bleeding hearts-so pretty. Where in Oregon do you live? My son lives between Albany and Corvalis.

Nancy said...

The portrait is wonderful- what a nice gift! I love lilacs, my favorite flower scent. Pretty pics.

Anonymous said...

Charlie is adorable. I had a cat like him growing up, she was more dog like than cat and quite the mouse catcher. I was thinking of Anne the other day and how much I miss her humor and her rants and her skulls....such a loss...But I love your laughing dog and I will check out the blog. Fab. xox

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

Sometimes you hear a story of generosity that warms your heart and renews your faith in humanity. Not only Patty's gift to you, but to animal rescue.

xx

Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers said...

It's a lovely painting of Sierra, and a great photo of you and Charlie too. We've also had some lovely spring days lately, interspersed with rainy days. As for the unexpected big hits - perhaps Google search has something to do with it. I do see the resemblance of your beaded piece to the glasses. Did you attach it to the leather bag in the end?
Wishing you a good weekend!

Robin said...

I love Charlie's painting! And you in your purple beret!! Can't believe you have all those flowers blooming! We have a few but are still struggling to get warm! My lilacs are just starting to get leaves!! Flowers are waaaaay off! Happy Spring!!

Anni - My Creative Life and Mixed Media Books said...

Jan, what a wonderful painting of your dog, a really fantastic gift, if you want to read the story about my book you have to read my previous post Jan.
Ann

Judy Ziegler said...

Your photos are Beautiful, I can smell the flowers. People who live up here have the best backyards!

Maggi said...

Another blog post that Bloglovin didn't send to me! Love the painting of Sierra and how lovely that you are now the proud owner of it.

Your wild flowers are so beautiful. I had one of your Oregon Grapes - called Mahonia here - and the perfume of the flowers gorgeous. Interesting that your bleeding hearts are wild as that is the variety that I have been searching for four years and finally found one last year.

Good to see such a lovely photo of you and Charlie.

april said...

A sweet painting! and wow, all the flowers you have!